Maynard, MA, USA: Beacon-Villager newspaper column on local history, observations on nature and recreational activities, plus an occasional health-related article. Columns from 2009-11 collected into book "MAYNARD: History and Life Outdoors." Columns from 2012-14 collected into book "Hidden History of Maynard." - David A. Mark

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Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Assabet River Rail Trail 2016 Construction

Ceremonial shovels ready for groundbreaking event

See updates with photos, October...

At a ceremony in Maynard on Thursday, July 21,
representatives from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the
towns of Acton and Maynard met to oversee and celebrate ground-breaking for the
$6.7 million construction of 3.4 miles of the Assabet River Rail Trial (ARRT)
in the two towns. Completion of this part of the trail is planned for spring of
2018.

MassDOT (Department of Transportation) Highway Administrator
Tom Tinlin joined local legislators, Acton and Maynard town managers, project
engineers and ARRT volunteers in front of an audience of about 80 to formally
break ground on this project. State Senator Jamie Eldridge and State
Representatives Kate Hogan and Cory Atkins spoke about the years of planning to
get state funding.

State Senator Jamie Eldridge
Click on photos to enlarge

Town Managers Kevin Sweet (Maynard) and Roland Bartl (Acton) described how this
project will make both towns friendlier to pedestrians and cyclists; both also
noted that their towns are participating in the state's Complete Streets
program. Roland pointed out that completing this northern end of the Assabet
River Rail Trail leaves a gap between the two ends, and that all involved
parties are committed to exploring means to close the gap, either along the
original train route or alternatives.

Maynard Board of Selectmen Chairman Chris DiSilva welcomed
the increased number of visitors the Trail will bring to Maynard businesses.
Chris also recognized the long years of involvement by ARRT volunteers Thomas
Kelleher and Duncan Power. Janet Adachi, Vice Chair of the Acton Board of
Selectmen acknowledged all towns' employees and former employees who had worked
to bring this project to fruition, also the people of design and engineering
companies, such as Rebecca Williamson of Greenman-Pedersen, Inc., who have
spent years on the details.

ARRT President Thomas Kelleher

The contractor for this multi-year project is D'Allessandro
Corp., a Massachusetts-based company with lots of experience in road, sidewalk,
park and water management projects. This expertise will stand them in good
stead for constructing the trail through the middle of Maynard as it crosses
many roads: Route 117, Sudbury
Street, Main Street, Florida Road, Summer Street, Acton Street, Concord
Street and Acton Street
again just before entering Acton.

A construction timeline has been set. Much of the work -
especially through downtown Maynard - will be completed in 2016. Two bridges
and a boardwalk spanning a wetlands area in Acton will be completed in 2017, as will final
paving. Late 2017 to early 2018 will see installation of fences, benches,
signage and landscaping, including the planting of hundreds of trees.

CAT 521B with tree felling attachment on boom (red). Operator positions
arm to grab tree - the five foot diameter blade cuts through in a couple of
seconds - and then the tree is laid down before the CAT moves on. As of
July 25th the CAT has finished Maynard and continues in Acton.

Work in earnest has already begun. Trail sections are being
blocked off with fencing and signs. Already, large trees that had grown next to
and in some places over the abandoned rails were cut to create an eighteen foot
wide swath from Summer to Concord Streets in Maynard. The tree cutting process
was quite a sight, as a Caterpillar CAT521B with a tree felling head weighs in
at a tad under 70,000 pounds and can cut trees up to 22 inches in diameter in a
few seconds. Each cut tree was carefully laid on it side, and the CAT moved on.
The next day, different equipment dragged all the trees to the north end, to be
stuffed into a super-sized wood chipper. Stumps to be dealt with later.

In addition to the trail being closed, much of the parking
along the affected parts of High Street, Main Street, Railroad Street, and the parking lots
behind the Post Office, Gruber Bros, CVS, Subway, The Outdoor Store and China
Ruby is being temporarily blocked off. [October update: The Attic, a second hand store in the Dunn Oil building, behind The Outdoor Store, went out of business.]

At the Farmers' Market location, the trees and hedge between the parking lot and Main Street are gone, as are trees in the park by the footbridge.

Among permanent changes planned for Maynard: Ice House
Landing, off Winter Street, will have a paved parking lot, some parking will be
lost behind the Post Office and from the town lot behind CVS and the Outdoor
Store. Part of MaplebrookPark (corner Summer and
Maple) will be sacrificed to the trail. In 2017 the six foot wide wooden
footbridge over the AssabetRiver will be replaced by
a wood-planked, steel truss bridge 62 feet long and 16 feet (!) wide. This is
so people will be able to pause on the bridge to admire the river without
hindering traffic. An idea - with a bit of help from the Maynard Community
Gardeners this could become Maynard's own Bridge of Flowers.

Speakers prepare to toss ceremonial first shovelfuls of dirt

In Acton,
south-to-north, the trail starts on an existing causeway that traverses
wetlands. It will then pass along the front of the Paper Store office building
(between it and Route 27) rather than behind the building, as that option would
have required a lengthy boardwalk over wetlands. Farther north, a small parking
lot will be added at the end of Sylvia
Street. A new 70 x 16 foot bridge will span Fort
Pond Brook. The trail, with its own parking area, will exit onto Maple Street
adjacent to the south side of the train station. The station will have new
bicycle parking facilities in addition to what already exists on the north
side.

Existing, unplanked bridge over Fort Pond Brook

TRAIL SAFETY

Many people want to know how safe rail trails are for
bicycling with young children. The Acton
section will be flat and cross no roads. It will, however, cross two driveways
bracketing the Paper Store office building. In Maynard, the trail will cross eight
roads, some very busy, before terminating at White Pond Road, on the Maynard:Stow border. There is one short but steep hill which may be a bit much for young children unless they
get off their bikes and walk. Southbound, after crossing Summer Street, there
is a downhill to the parking lot behind The Outdoor Store. There is a gradual uphill parallel to Railroad Street. The rest is flat or near-flat.

As for amenities, there will be no public restroom
facilities or water fountains anywhere along the trail. Four kiosks with maps
and other information will be erected at key points. There will be 'distance
travelled' markers every half-mile. Benches and bike racks will be installed. Signage
will describe historic sites adjacent to the trail. Because the trail's path
goes through the center of Maynard there will be easy access to restaurants and
outdoor seating cafes (with bathrooms), convenience stores, and Ray & Sons Cyclery.
A detour to the far side of Maynard's mill pond will bring riders to the outdoor
beer garden of Battle Road
Brewery & Brewpub.

Speakers and some of the attendees

The south end terminates at an entrance to the Assabet River
National Wildlife Refuge, which offers 15 miles of trails, half open to
bicycling (www.fws.gov/refuge/Assabet_River). ARNWR has parking lots near the
north and south entrances. At the south end of the rail trail walkers and
cyclists are permitted to continue two miles west on the unpaved, privately
owned "Track Road,"
which ends at Sudbury Road,
Stow. This is quite near to StowTownBeach on LakeBoon, but unfortunately Stow does not sell day
passes.

About the north end: an oft-asked question is whether
the Acton end of ARRT, at the train station, will ever link to the Bruce Freeman Trail,
currently being extended south through the east edge of Acton,
toward West Concord, with a north terminus in Lowell. There is no inactive rail
right-of-way between the two, and thus no good option for an off streets
connection. One possibility would be to create a three mile long marked bicycle
lane on School Street and Laws Brook Road.

Business end of the woodchipper. Click on photos to enlarge.

This project, when complete, will add 3.4 miles at the north
end to the 5.8 miles completed years ago at the south end, in Hudson and
Marlborough. Connecting the two along the route of the original railroad would
cover 3.2 miles and cross the AssabetRiver twice. Any rail
trail connection, this way or other, is years away. Experienced road cyclists
can connect the ends by heading north on White Pond Road, then west and south on
Route 62 (distance 5.4 miles), but this route is too heavily trafficked for
inexperienced riders or children. Walkers and off-road cyclists can navigate a
route that hews closer to the original by traveling on Track Road (unpaved) to Sudbury Road, and
from there on roads to the Hudson
end, on Route 62.